Photo guide · Alignment

Ghost overlay photography for repeatable progress shots.

A ghost overlay puts the previous photo lightly over the camera view. Match the edges and landmarks before you capture the next entry, then turn the overlay off and inspect the change.

Short answer: Use a previous photo as a transparent alignment reference, match two or three fixed landmarks, and only then take the new shot. An overlay improves position; it cannot make a moving subject, changing light, or a different lens identical.

What to align

Start with edges that should not move: a wall corner, wheel arch, shelf line, canvas corner, fence post, or floor seam. Two fixed landmarks are usually more useful than trying to remember the exact position of your feet.

  1. Choose the previous entry from the same project and view.
  2. Set the camera height and lens view as close as practical.
  3. Adjust your position until the fixed landmarks sit on top of the ghost.
  4. Capture the new photo, then compare any two dated entries in the project.
Alignment example · illustrative

The sequence above is a text diagram, not a product screenshot. Use a real project view to judge the fit.

Where the overlay stops helping

Plants grow, cars move, furniture gets repositioned, and light shifts. The ghost can still reveal that the camera moved, but it cannot erase those differences. Keep a note when a project stage required a new view, and compare like with like.

Itermark is an iOS progress camera with no account. The project photos and details stay on the device, and the privacy policy explains the anonymous feature-use counts the app shares. The alignment workflow, slider reveal, Save, and Share are free; premium export formats are separate.